Lone Star Wedding

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“Although that,” he said while her mind was still spinning, “had the potential to reverse some of the progress. I’ll call you tomorrow. We can discuss our plans for dinner then. Good night, Hannah.”

She rose to her feet, then stood perfectly still. Her heart pounded an erratic rhythm. It came from trying to keep up with a man as sharp and witty as Parker. It came from trying to listen to every word he said, no matter how quickly he said it. It came from the fact that he’d been married. Once, he’d said, had been enough.

She sat back down on the step, landing with a heavy little thud about the same time the outer door closed behind him.

There was exhilaration in Parker’s step as he left Hannah’s building. He’d gotten the last word, and he’d gotten the last kiss. Hannah had been so surprised she’d failed to turn down his invitation to dinner. Earlier, she’d been the one with all the exuberant energy. She’d turned that energy on him, and frankly, he could hardly wait to give her the opportunity to do it again.

He’d rounded the corner and was heading for his car when he noticed a woman hiding in the shadows. Probably in her mid-twenties, she seemed nervous, jumpy. Guilty? He didn’t get a good enough look at her face to make that kind of determination because she spun around the instant she noticed him, her feet carrying her away quickly.

She disappeared down a narrow alley, leaving behind a hazy impression of dark hair and a brightly colored, skintight dress that reminded him of a neon sign, garish and gaudy. In comparison, Hannah was all subtle nuances and sultry sighs, as inviting as deep evening shade.

Maria Cassidy placed a hand slightly above her flat stomach and breathed deeply. Holding very still, she listened for the sound of footsteps behind her. All was quiet.

That had been a close one, she thought, letting out a long breath. She’d nearly panicked when she’d seen Hannah coming toward her a little while ago. For a second there she’d been afraid her older sister had recognized her.

Maria’s lips thinned. Hannah thought she was so smart. Boring, that’s what she was. All her life, all she’d done was lecture Maria about the importance of studying and furthering her education. Hannah didn’t know how to have fun. She didn’t know how to dress, that was for sure. Maria couldn’t begin to fathom what the man with the impressive biceps, long, lithe legs and interesting face saw in Hannah. Her sister usually only attracted computer geeks and nerds.

When she’d first seen Hannah and the man disappear behind closed doors, Maria had thought that maybe Hannah had changed. She should have known Miss High and Mighty wouldn’t know how to keep a man busy for more than five minutes. She was probably still a virgin, for God’s sake.

Not Maria. She’d always known what a woman’s body was made for. She had breasts to die for. Men used to tell her that all the time. It had been a while since she’d heard it. Oh, how she missed it.

Lately her life had gotten out of control.

Why couldn’t things just go her way for once? Nothing ever did. And she was so tired of working, so tired of living in that awful trailer in Leather Bucket. So tired of people who refused to take her seriously.

Just look at her. She was only twenty-three. She should have been having fun. She’d found the perfect way to get ahead and make those uppity Fortunes give the Cassidys their due. Her mother had refused to listen. So had Cole and Hannah. So Maria had taken things into her own hands. It had been a good plan. Brilliant. But then things had gone wrong. So wrong.

Now she was stuck in that dingy trailer in the dowdiest town in the country, working two menial jobs to make ends meet. And when she wasn’t working, she was taking care of the baby. Life had been so much easier when she was a child.

She’d felt a tiny pang of homesickness when she’d first happened to glimpse Hannah. For a moment she’d wanted to go to her older sister the way she had when they were kids. Back then she used to give in to the loneliness and unhappiness that had dogged her whole life and knock on Hannah’s door. Good old boring Hannah was usually studying, but she always smiled at Maria, and invited her in. Sometimes, Hannah would brush Maria’s hair for a long time. Maria would stare at her reflection in the mirror, mesmerized, smiling only when Hannah told her she was pretty.

“But remember, Maria,” Hannah used to whisper. “Pretty is as pretty does.”

Maria rolled her eyes all these years later. What did Hannah know?

Maria was the one who was going to have the last laugh. She was! Her plan to present the Fortunes with an offspring had gone awry. She had spent months trying to get into one of the younger Fortune’s bed in order to get pregnant. It had all been for nothing. She’d been forced to go to a sperm bank for what she’d needed. It hadn’t been fun, but she hadn’t done it for pleasure. She’d done it to ensure that at least one Cassidy got what she deserved: a portion of the Fortune dynasty.

At last it had seemed as if something had gone right. She’d know that a certain Fortune bachelor had donated to a sperm bank years before, and she had asked for just the right donor profile… All she’d had to do was have her baby, and wait for the right time to present the Fortunes with another heir.